Employees protest firing of beloved CEO

Current Market Basket CEO's Felicia Thornton and James Gooch say employees who were terminated "took significant actions that harmed the company and therefore compromised Market Basket's ability to be there" for its customers.

In a joint statement released Tuesday afternoon, Thornton and Gooch said they shared many of the sentiments that Arthur T. Demoulas expressed in a statement that he released Monday evening, but needed to make the decision to terminate those who walked off the job after seeing no other alternative.

The family feud over control over the supermarket chain escalated to the point that thousands of employees and their supporters rallied at the company's headquarters and called for the reinstatement of Demoulas.

A worker at the Epping Market Basket was arrested Tuesday morning.

Police said Brian Johnson, of Derry, drove recklessly through the store parking lot after a confrontation with two people hired by the corporate office to check up on the store.

The crowds at the rallies have been made up of workers, their families and even customers.

"I wouldn't have my house if not for him. He gave me my break from '68 to '74. These guys are great. Keep working the lines, keep working it!" said one shopper.

"We don't want things to change. And the only way the things can stay the same is with Arthur T. Demoulas. He stood by me, and I will stand by him," said 30-year Market Basket employee Linda Kulis.

"Stay strong. It's the best we can do for Arthur T. Demoulas and our supervisors we don't have anymore," said 20-year Market Basket employee Kevin Levesque.

Speakers at the rallies included many longtime employees, some of whom were fired Sunday for a work stoppage because of their opposition to the new leadership which has led to empty shelves in many stores.

"We need to boycott Market Basket, as difficult as that is to say and hear," said Joe Garon, who was fired.

"We all stick together, we will get our boss back. He's always had our back, we got to stay strong and have his," said Dean Joyce, a former warehouse operations director.

Deliveries to Market Basket stores across the region stopped Friday as employees fought to have the former CEO reinstated. Demoulas was fired in June, spurring warehouse workers to walk off the job in protest.

Demoulas' statement on Monday was the first time he has spoken publicly since the rallies in support of him began.

"The success of Market Basket is the result of two things: a business model that works and the execution of it by a dedicated and impassioned team of associates," Demoulas said in the statement. "Their fierce loyalty to the company and its customers has always been deeply valued. In the final analysis, this is not about me. It is about the people who have proven their dedication over many years and should not have lost their jobs because of it. I urge that they be reinstated in the best interest of the company and our customers."

By Sunday, much of the produce, meat and fish were wiped out at the Chelsea location.

Amine Djellouli had stopped in to buy vegetables."It is unbelievable, we don't see any food," she said. "I understand the strike -- people need decent pay and money. On the other hand, we are struggling to find food here for our families."

Seventeen Massachusetts lawmakers called for a boycott of the regional supermarket giant.

"We, the undersigned, stand today with the thousands of Market Basket employees who have walked out of their jobs in protest of the firing of their beloved CEO Arthur T. Demoulas," the boycott document read, according to The Boston Globe.

Attorney General Martha Coakley praised protesting employees Sunday, saying, "Workers deserve to be treated with respect and their voices deserve to be heard."

Tom Gordon and at least seven other employees at the Market Basket corporate office were terminated Sunday via letter in the wake of massive rallies.

"I opened (the letter) up, and it was a termination from Market Basket supermarket," he said.

Shoppers told NewsCenter 5 on Facebook that they were also seeing empty shelves in West Bridgewater, Reading, Raynham and Hudson, and Nashua, New Hampshire.

Many people said they weren't familiar with the feud between employees and their corporate owners, but were disappointed that it was affecting their grocery-buying.

"There was no produce, the shelves were empty," one customer said. "It's too bad. It's a great store."

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TONIGHT, AND BY 11:00 WE ARE ALREADY AT THE HIGH TEMPERATURE AND HEADING FOR 90. ALL THE DETAILS, COMING UP. ANOTHER CHAPTER IN THE MARKET BASKET CRISIS. WE ARE HEARING FROM THE NEW MANAGEMENT. URGING EMPLOYEES TO GET BACK TO WORK? INDEED. A NEW MARKET BASKET STATEMENT RELEASED TONIGHT SAYS THE COMPANY WANTS TO GET BACK TO BUSINESS, NOT ONLY FOR CUSTOMERS, BUT FOR WORKERS AS WELL. NOWHERE IN THE STATEMENT DOES IT SAY THEY WILL BE ANY LEADERSHIP CHANGE AT THE TOP. IT IS A FAMILIAR CHANCE NOW, AND IT IS TAKING A TOLL ON MORE THAN JUST MARKET BASKET. BUSINESS AS USUAL. WE MADE CHANGES, BUT BUSINESS AS USUAL. CLEARLY IT IS NOT. RICHARD BONANNO, PRESIDENT OF THE MASS FARM BUREAU FEDERATION, SHIPS TWO THIRDS OF HIS CROP TO MARKET BASKET. THE FARM IS READY TO GO, BUT SHELVES ARE EMPTY, LIKE HERE IN CHELSEA. WHEN WE SEND A TRUCK TO THE DISTRIBUTION FACILITY THEY SAY SORRY, WE ARE NOT TAKING DELIVERIES. SO PLEASANT VALLEY FARMS IS LOSING $.50 ON THE DOLLAR. I WISH THEY WERE DOING THIS IN DECEMBER. BUT IT IS HAPPENING NOW. THEY WANT THE CEO BACK, UNSEATED IN A LONG FAMILY FEUD. BRING HIM BACK TO BOSTON. PLEASE HELP US BY TAKING YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE. WITH EACH PASSING DAY, BUSINESS IS AFFECTED, BUT NOT JUST FOR MARKET BASKET, AND NOT JUST THE FISH, MEAT, AND PRODUCE. WE STOP DELIVERY IN THREE WEEKS. HE IS GROWING EXCLUSIVELY FOR

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